


Home

by JacetheSmutGuy94



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22326838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacetheSmutGuy94/pseuds/JacetheSmutGuy94
Summary: A journey home was supposed to fill a person with thoughts of love. But to Rivy, the thought of returning to the place she was born filled her with heartache from the memories of the day her home was destroyed and all her family and friends murdered. She never thought she would ever find the will to return. But with her mate and her two closest allies by her side, along with her faithful companion, and the knowledge that something was waiting for her there, she felt she was finally ready to face her past.
Kudos: 1





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**_///Hey guys, here's a special thing I wrote! I wanted to write something special for Rivy to be able to bring her some peace, and this was the idea I came up with. It has a mix of different elements in it and I hope you enjoy it. Also this story has other OCs of mine in it that I haven't put the bios for here, and I didn't give many descriptions of them in this story, so if you're new here and don't know my OCs from Tumblr then I apologize for that///_ **

Word count: 7,085

Light grey clouds filled the sky and rain lightly fell from them late in the morning on one spring day. And charred wood, overgrown with vines and broken rubble was scattered around the mossy cobblestone walkways of a long destroyed and abandoned village in the kingdom of Vale. It was far away from other villages and towns, and especially from the city of Vale itself with only a couple of roads leading in and out of it. It used to be such a beautiful, peaceful little village before hell tore through. Walls were broken down in numerous places and homes were either caved in or completely demolished and burned down, leaving only barely standing support beams. The hatred and greed of a man that used to be only known as Locke had rendered the village destroyed and all of the inhabitants murdered by either bandits or Grimm.

All except for one.

A dark green and brown camouflage truck slowly pulled to a stop outside of the northern gate of the village on the side of the road and the four occupants got out of it and into the rainfall, all pulling their hoods onto their heads. The first one out was Rivy, and she grabbed  _ Cero Miedo _ from the back and put it on her back before she slowly walked up to the vine covered sign outside the gate, and she stopped for a few moments while Momo sat down beside her, her ears erect and alert. Slowly, the memories of Rivy's childhood began to come into her mind of how her sister used to walk with her up and down the road to take in the silence of nature and the cool breeze coming through the trees from the ocean just a few miles away. It was a memory she held dear in her heart for years. A memory of a peaceful time when she was just an innocent girl.

Soon, a hand was placed on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "We're with you, love," Ulysses said gently at her side, "You can do this."

She felt another hand on her other shoulder a moment later. "Take all the time you need, sister," Zarya spoke up, her voice low and calming and her scales and the tips of her hair a calming blue color as she held  _ Chroma Sting's _ grip in her left hand. She looked from Rivy to the ruined village and she let out a sigh, "I can imagine this used to be a beautiful place."

Momo's head nuzzled against her hand, and Rivy smiled a small bit before she gently petted the girl between her ears. As she did that, Saint stepped forward past everyone,  _ Rupture _ ready in his hands, and he stopped at the sign. "It's still hard to believe that a village of our people were wiped out, just like that..." The soft spoken man said and took a hand off of  _ Rupture _ to clear vines away from the sign to reveal the village's name.

_ Scalewood _

Those with the traits of dragons were very rare among the Faunus race. While there are hundreds of thousands of Faunus on Remnant, there are less than twenty thousand of the formerly nomadic dragon Faunus due to how rare they are, in addition to massacres on them for being the freaks of the freaks dwindling their numbers over the long years before the Great War. History lessons mostly gloss over the darkest parts of humanity's past, but the blood staining Vacuo's sand is still there, and the trail followed many of the dragon Faunus into Vale as they tried to migrate and escape the cruel treatment they were subjugated to.

Things were mostly looking up for them all after the Great War and after the formation of the Rangers, giving a select few a good direction in life and giving countless more protection from injustice, and their numbers are still slowly rising back up. But, events like the destruction of Scalewood, a village of around three hundred dragon Faunus, have just taken those numbers back down. Even still these days despite their natural strength and fitness, dragon Faunus have hard times in human dominated settlements, almost always having to cover their scales or other dragon-like traits to prevent themselves from becoming targets of racism and hate, and prevent themselves from being ran out of their homes or killed just for being even more different than other Faunus.

Tears slowly began to form in Saint's eyes and fall down his cheeks before he ripped some of the vines away and clenched his fist. "I can never understand why things like this happens to our people..."

He closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths before putting his hand back on  _ Rupture _ , and he opened his eyes back up, and then he began to sense something off about the area now, and then he and everyone began to hear Momo growl lowly. "Grimm are here. Southwest of us."

Rivy's lip twitched a bit and she gritted her teeth before drawing  _ Cero Miedo _ from her back. "One day, I hope this village can be rebuilt and be a refuge for dragon Faunus again."

Ulysses pulled Hammerfall off his back as well and rested it on his shoulder. "Well, Locke and his bandits are dead. New project?"

Rivy hummed a bit in response. "I'll... think about it."

Zarya pressed a button on the side of  _ Chroma Sting's _ grip with her thumb and the barrel extended out by twenty inches, and she looked at Rivy and gave a small grin. "We'll talk about that later."

Zarya jumped up onto the remnants of the wall next to the gate and looked around through her weapon's sight, and she saw a small group of Beowulves led by an Alpha. She took aim at one of the smaller Beowulves in the group and pulled the trigger, and the round blasted from the barrel, coated in ice dust from the barrel, and zipped through the air before slamming between the Grimm's eyes, ice bursting around its eyes in a flower and blinding it. It growled and let out a roar before thrashing around, trying to rip the ice off its face as it slammed into the other Grimm and distracted them all. She took a few more shots and all three rounds hit three other Beowulves in either their arms or their torsos before they all finally took notice of her.

But by the time they did, Rivy and Ulysses were already charging at them with Momo at their heels, and Saint wasn't far behind them. Zarya switched firing modes and began to send bursts of three rounds out and all of them slammed into the Alpha's feet and the ground around itself feet, soon pinning it there before it had the chance to do anything. While it was stuck, the other Beowulves ran past it, with the blinded one's vision now free, and they jumped at the three that were running at them. Or they would have, if it wasn't for Momo hopping between them all and beginning to snarl and growl brutally, baring her fangs at the Grimm. Her semblance activated at that and all three Beowulves stopped in their tracks and whimpered, completely frozen in fear.

Rivy, Ulysses, and Saint took that opportunity to easily take out the three Grimm. Rivy simply cut the head off of one, Ulysses smashed another's head into paste on the ground, and Saint stabbed the bardiche blade of Rupture into the last's chest. Before long, the Alpha Beowulf broke free from the ice and let out a loud howl into the air, and multiple more Beowulves began to run into the area from outside the walls. Momo started to growl at them all as she did before, and some froze in fear while others began to hesitate, but some were left unaffected as Momo's semblance can't affect too many things at a time. When she was finished with those, she began to dart around the area and out of the reach of the Grimm, keeping them occupied while the others attacked. Those that were unaffected became the targets of Rivy and Ulysses as Saint went on the attack against the Alpha, taking aim with  _ Rupture _ and pulling the trigger a few times to blast dozens of lightning dust pellets into its torso. The lightning mixed with the wet fur of the Alpha made it howl in pain and caused it to become paralyzed for several moments, letting Saint go in on the attack. He struck at its legs and midsection with multiple side slashes and pushed the Alpha back across the cobblestone and rubble before he spun around and let go with one hand while keeping a hold of the grip in his other while raising  _ Rupture _ high into the air, and he swung it down with all his might against the Alpha. It's body recovered from the paralyzation just in time for it to raise its arms up and block the attack, and then it finally countered and sent its claws into Saint's side, causing him to grunt and slide across the ground on his feet.

Meanwhile, Zarya jumped down from the wall after picking off a few of the smaller Beowulves and reloading, and she ran into the fight while  _ Chroma Sting's _ barrel retracted into it's short ranged form. The larger scope flipped to the side and Zarya aimed through the holographic sight, and she began to fire bursts of rounds into the Grimm, freezing limbs solid for Rivy and Ulysses to easily take off. One Beowulf broke off from the others and ran for her, jumping at her and swiping its claws toward her head from the side. From a few feet away, she dropped to a crouch and took a hand off her weapon to place flat against the ground. She used her semblance and multicolored aura glowed from the stone, and soon a spear of stone shot from the ground and pierced through the Beowulf's chest and heart, killing it instantly.

Zarya jumped back to her feet and hopped across the rubble of a destroyed home toward her brother, careful not to get her feet stuck between any of the stone or wood. She jumped onto a pillar of wood that was still standing and then leapt off of it as the Alpha Beowulf sent another hard strike toward Saint. The red scaled dragon raised  _ Rupture _ to block the strike as Zarya jumped from the pillar toward it. She pointed  _ Chroma Sting _ toward the Alpha's arm and began to fire bursts of rounds into it, each one bursting into icy flowers along its black fur and bone covered arm. The Alpha growled in annoyance at that and turned its vision toward her, and that gave Saint an opening to knock its arm away with  _ Rupture _ and knock it off guard, aim at the unprotected underside of its arm near the torso, and pull the trigger.

The Alpha let out a pained roar as its arm was nearly blown off of its body, just hanging by a thread now. Zarya continued her descent toward the Alpha and reared her right fist back, using her aura to grow the hard-light blades of  _ Drachenklaue _ , and she punched down at the Alpha's jaw. The claws tore into the Grimm's flesh, and soon its bottom jaw was broken and mangled. It roared once more in agony and stumbled away from the two, and Zarya gave one look to Saint before giving a nod and unloading the rest of  _ Chroma Sting's _ magazine into the Alpha's chest. She took the magazine out and inserted the one connected to its side, and then she darted off toward where Rivy and Ulysses were fighting off the lesser Beowulves as Saint grinned at the Alpha.

She knew they didn't need the help, but this was Rivy's home the Grimm were trampling over, and she wanted them all gone as quickly as possible. As she bolted off from Saint, the red scaled dragon fired another shell of buckshot into the Alpha's body to get its attention back on him. When it did, Saint jumped back away from it and in its rage-filled mind, it leapt after him and swung its remaining claws toward him. That was the last mistake the Grimm would ever make. Saint planted his feet to the ground and transformed the stock of  _ Rupture _ into its hilt form and switched his hold to it, and then he jumped forward toward the Alpha, jumping past its reach and impaling  _ Rupture's _ blade deep into its chest and its heart to end it.

With a yell, Ulysses brought the heavy metal head of  _ Hammerfall _ down into a Beowulf's head and slammed it down into the ground, squashing it into a pulp before it turned to ash and disintegrated. Then, he released the blade from the hammer head and pulled it free, and then he leapt over toward the next Grimm and his attacks became faster now without the massive weight of the hammer. The Grimm took swipes at him with their claws but it was either at the cost of their limbs or their lives. One by one, those that attacked him were all left defenseless or disintegrating under his charge until one Beowulf got lucky and was able to tackle Ulysses to the ground, his blade being knocked from his grasp.

The Beowulf pinned him down and opened its mouth to bite down around his head, but then it was caught off guard and let out a confused growl when it saw Ulysses quickly begin to morph into his werewolf form thanks to his semblance. Then, Ulysses let out a snarl that caused the Beowulf to let out a rather confused, fearful whimper, and Ulysses powered out of its grip and his own claws clamped down around the Beowulf's head, and then he threw it off of him and jumped up to his feet, and he let out a piercing howl into the air that caused many of the Grimm to stop and turn toward the commanding tone of the howl.

That… was a big mistake.

Even the ones Rivy was fighting had turned their attention away from her and as soon as they did,  _ Cero Miedo _ sliced through them both and cut them in half, leaving their bodies turning to ash in the wind. Rivy began to go after other Beowulves that were distracted and easily cut them all down like they were nothing as Zarya darted around them all, unloading rounds into their chests and throats to thin their numbers down, empty casings falling and clattering along the cobblestone under her. Rivy focused her aura into her heavy blade and swung it in a sideways arc to send out a slash of aura toward another three Beowulves, maiming two of them and killing the third before Ulysses jumped at them and clawed their heads off.

Rivy stayed as calm as ever as she continued to fight off the pack of Beowulves with her mate and their close friends. They were her family. She remembered how she met each of them and she remembered how far the three had gone for her to see her avenge her family's deaths and the destruction of her village. She remembered the tavern she met Ulysses in while she was trying to figure out her next steps. She remembered the weapon shop in Mistral she met Saint and Zarya in while she and Ulysses were finding whetstones and oils for their blades. She remembered how willing they all were to offer their aid and support to her after her life had been thrown into hell and her trust shattered. She remembered the day they all stood with her as she drove her sister's blade through Locke's chest. She remembered falling into their arms after the heavy use of her semblance tore numerous muscles in her body.

She could never thank them all enough.

Rivy blinked her eyes as she snapped herself back into the present, and  _ Cero Miedo _ was pierced through the chest of the final Beowulf of the pack. The Grimm disintegrated into dust and Rivy let the tip of her blade touch the ground, and she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to see Ulysses back in his normal form, giving her a reassuring smile.

"I know this is hard for you, Rivy," Ulysses said to her and placed his hand over his right shoulder, feeling the pain and heartache through the Mate's Mark on his shoulder that she was trying to hide, "Take your time. We'll stay here as long as it takes."

"Are you alright, sister?" Zarya asked the older dragon Faunus, "You zoned out when we were fighting the Grimm."

Saint arrived at them all just then, loading new shells into  _ Rupture _ . "You can talk to us, Rivy. We're here for you."

Rivy shook her head clear and she sighed. "To tell you the truth… I'm not sure I  _ am _ alright right now or not," She felt Momo nuzzle her head against her hand and she patted the dog's head a bit, "Being here again makes me remember everything from when I was a child. This building here…" She looked behind herself at the ruins of a small building, "This was the blacksmith and gunsmith. My grandfather always ended up fixing the guards' weapons and making them new ones all the time. And that building…" She pointed to another building and everyone followed her finger toward a half standing building down the street, "That was the bakery. I used to buy muffins there and take them to my sister during her breaks, and we would eat them t-together wh-while talking a-about our days… "

Rivy's grip loosened a bit on  _ Cero Miedo _ and she brought her other hand up to cover her mouth as her lips began to quiver as the rain slowly began to stop falling. Almost immediately, she was wrapped in a tight embrace by her mate, and then tears began to fall from her eyes. She used to never let the memories make her break down like this but after seeing Tiamat for the first time in twenty years at Heaven's Clearing, she could hardly hold her emotions back now. She felt Ulysses' hand pull her head closer and softly stroke the back of her head. She pressed her face against Ulysses' shoulder and dropped  _ Cero Miedo _ to the ground, and she wrapped her arms around Ulysses as well and cried into his shoulder.

Before long, Zarya's arms wrapped around them both from the side, and then Saint's wrapped around them from the other side. "Don't hold anything back, sister," Saint said softly to his close friend, "Let everything out that you can, and then we'll look for what Tiamat wanted you to find."

"You'll get through this. You've gone through so much already," Zarya said, the tips of her hair still a calm blue as her scales were, but slowly turning to dark grey as she started to feel sadness for what happened to everyone in Scalewood, especially Rivy, "Just a little more and you can hopefully be at peace."

"We'll rebuild this place," Ulysses said in a gentle tone to his mate, "Once we have everything figured out, we'll come back and start rebuilding. We'll turn this back into a village for dragon Faunus, and we'll make sure it stays that way for years. This will be home for you again, Rivy. I promise. And besides..." He separated from Rivy and the others did as well, and he kept her hands on her shoulders and smiled as the sun began to peek through the clouds and coat the area in rays of light, "We've both been needing a home for ourselves for a long, long time. The long roads, the camps, the inns, the bars, our apartment… All of those will be worth having to deal with once we rebuild this village."

Saint looked around the ruins of the village for a few moments and slowly pulled his hood off his head. "I think I would love to help rebuild this place and have a home here as well. To have it be rebuilt to its full glory will hopefully let all those people rest easy."

"Rebuilding this village in memory of all our fallen brothers and sisters…" Zarya began to say, taking her hood off as her scales and the tips of her hair faded fully to dark grey, and she sighed sadly, and then that color quickly turned to a fiery orange color as she gave a confident smile, "We'll keep their memory alive. I know a Ranger that keeps up with who lives and lived in each village in Vale. I'll have her give me a list of all the people that lived here and we'll build them a memorial with all their names on it. This will  _ always _ be their home, and I want it to be mine as well."

Rivy stayed silent as every word sunk in from her closest allies. She looked down to the ground, her cries slowly calming and her tears subsiding, her breathing slowing down. She got down on one knee and looked into Momo's eyes now, and then the atlesian shepherd licked her cheek a bit. Rivy couldn't help but chuckle and she brought Momo in for a hug and she stroked her dog's fur on her back and between her ears for several moments. Over the last year or so, Momo wasn't just a pet for Rivy. Momo was a companion that always kept her company until Ulysses was finally able to be with her again, and Momo gave her emotional support for the days she needed it when Ulysses wasn't there. Momo helped Rivy a lot in the time she had adopted the girl, and it was something Rivy would always appreciate.

"Thank you, Momo…" Rivy said softly to her pup, and then she slowly stood back to her feet, pulling her hood off and grabbing the hilt of  _ Cero Miedo _ along the way, her eyes filled with determination as her cheeks and the scars on her face were stained with tears as she put her weapon on her back, "Thank you all. If it weren't for all of you over the years having my back and letting me trust people again, I would be either dead or drowning myself in whiskey. You've helped me so much and I'll forever be grateful to you. Yes… we will build a memorial for all the people that were murdered here and we will rebuild this village in their memory. We will rebuild this village to be a home for any dragon Faunus that need it and we'll keep it safe from any danger whether it's Grimm or another clan of worthless bandit trash. We'll never let it be destroyed again!"

She said the last part in a yell and Momo howled in support of her mama, and all three of her companions started grinning widely. They had all seen her at her lowest of lows and highest of highs, and each low point hurt them all to see but each high point left them all raised up with her and this was one of those high points. After all those years, she was finally back in her home village, facing the last part of her terrible past head on and with a determined look in her eyes.

This was the Rivy they all respected and loved. She was loved as a close friend and sister to Saint and Zarya, loved as a mate to Ulysses, and of course, loved as a mother to Momo.

"So Rivy, where did Tiamat say that thing was?" Zarya asked the elder dragon Faunus, her scales and the tips of her hair turning back to blue.

Rivy turned toward the center of the village where a destroyed fountain was scattered along the cobblestone. Just just beyond that, past a few more buildings was the half destroyed remains of where she used to work so long ago. "The inn. Tiamat said that specifically."

"Your mother and father owned it, didn't they?" Saint asked as they all began to walk toward the inn, "I remember you telling us that you watched your father mixing drinks a good amount."

Rivy nodded in confirmation. "He was mesmerizing with it. I learned a few things from him but neither him or mom let me handle the drink mixing," She chuckled a bit, "I would have started after I turned twenty one."

"I would have loved to have been around for that," Ulysses said and smiled at his mate, "You've mixed a few drinks for us before and they were good. Do you think you would want to work there again and practice more with mixing drinks?"

Rivy didn't have to think on an answer. "Absolutely."

The group of four plus Momo made their way past the rubble and wood, a good majority of it still overtaken by vines like the entrance to the village. Twenty years had gone by since that day, and nature had definitely did its best to reclaim Scalewood. They all arrived at the ruined inn and stood right outside of it, all surveying the sight of it. The wood was half charred and the stone was of course covered in moss mostly, and many of the windows were broken out. It was a wonder half of the three story building was still standing. It would definitely need to be torn down the rest of the way so it can be rebuilt anew. But for now, that wasn't a priority. Rivy stepped forward away from the group and Momo was right there at her heels, and she looked around the doorframe a bit before reaching over to wipe away the moss that covered the stone to reveal a sign.

_ "Welcome to the Blue Dragon Inn" _

The words were faded and barely legible, but Rivy still remembered exactly what it was supposed to say. "It's been so long… but I've finally come home."

She walked through the doorway and Ulysses followed her while Saint and Zarya began to wordlessly patrol around the building, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that would try to sneak up on them. Rivy stopped once more after stepping through the door and she looked around again, taking in the sight of everything after so long. She remembered everything about the parts that were still standing. She remembered waiting patiently at the side of the bar while her father mixed drinks for her to take to some patrons, and she remembered the smell of the food the staff cooked constantly for them all as well. She sighed at the sight of all the broken tables and glass, and all the shattered and destroyed cups and tankards that would have been used for drinks ranging from water to just beer while the broken glasses were reserved for the special mixed drinks.

"That table in the corner," Rivy pointed Ulysses toward the half destroyed table and the chairs in the corner of the room, "That's where my grandfather always sat when he closed his workshop for the night and played cards with his old friends. He was always having a good time even when he lost."

"That was Riah, right?" Ulysses asked softly as they could hear Momo's claws tapping against the floor as she explored around where they could walk freely.

Rivy nodded. "He was a great man. Eighty years old but still working like he was twenty. Dragon Faunus do tend to have more strength and stamina at older ages than other Faunus or humans."

Ulysses hummed lightly. "I would have loved to meet him and the rest of your family."

"And I would have loved for you, Saint, and Zarya to meet them all."

After taking a few moments to recollect herself, Rivy began to walk toward the bar and walk around to get behind it, taking  _ Cero Miedo _ off her back. She saw a pile of rubble behind it near the middle, and she remembered what Tiamat had told her to look for.  _ "Behind the bar, under the wood and rocks that fell from the back wall, you'll find it. I've protected it all these years for you." _ That was all she said, but Rivy knew that it was something extremely important. She went over to the rubble and got down on her knees, propping her sword against the bar, and then she started to slowly dig through it. It took several long moments and Momo was next to her during it, just watching curiously to see what her mama was doing. And soon, Rivy found exactly what Tiamat had meant, and she pulled it out of the rubble.

It was a family photo, taken and framed just days before the destruction of Scalewood to be displayed right above and behind the bar on the mantle. Her grandfather, Riah, was on the left side with completely silver hair, looking as old as his age but standing as strong as ever. One black, blue tinted horn was left on his head as the other had been long broken off after a battle against a powerful Grimm and his eyes were blue. He was wearing the uniform of a blacksmith complete with a recently-cleaned grey apron, black pants, and a brown shirt under the apron. The next over was her mother, Fay. She had red eyes and red scales that covered a bit more of her cheeks than what Rivy's did and they extended to cover the entirety of her arms and her sides, along with her upper back and shoulders. She was wearing a simple outfit of blue jeans and a red blouse. Her hair was long and red as well. Next to her was Rivy's father, Thorne. He had dark blue hair that was cut short, the same color as Riah's once was and he had dragon wings on his back, blue in color mostly. He wore a pair of blue jeans as well, along with a dark blue vest. Kneeling in front of them was Tiamat, wearing nearly full black leather armor except for over her arms, showing off the red scales that covered them. Her hair was in a tight ponytail. Next to her and standing up in front of their parents with a happy smile on her scarless face was Rivy herself, a happy sixteen year old girl with strong hopes for her future. Her hair was just past her ears in length at the time and still red like her sister's in contrast to her blue eyes and scales. She was wearing her simple, modest barmaid uniform.

She was holding her baby brother in her arms, Kairon. He had cute little blue wings sprouting from his back.

"H-how did this survive…" Rivy said quietly as tears came to her eyes once more and she clutched the sides of the frame in her hands. The glass on the front was broken but the picture itself was undamaged, "It's been so long since I've seen them all…"

Ulysses walked around the bar to her and knelt down behind her. "You looked cute, you know." He said softly.

Rivy smiled, her voice catching in her throat a bit. "Th-that's what everyone told me. Tia… She picked that out for me to wear."

"It was a good choice."

Rivy shifted the position of her hand and felt something off about the frame, and she turned it around and noticed a secret compartment had been rotted away a bit, revealing a silver key inside. Rivy knew exactly what the key went to. She gently opened the compartment up and took the key out, and she handed the picture to Ulysses before she looked around the wall behind the bar. It was made up of cobblestone and held together by cement, all of it polished and smooth, but in a small area there were stones that weren't held together at all. It surprised Rivy that they had stayed like that all those years, but she suspected that Tiamat had something to do with that. She pulled the stone out of the wall and soon revealed a hidden safe, and she pulled the safe out, put the key in, and easily unlocked it. Rivy hesitated for several moments before she took a deep breath and slowly opened it up, sitting down fully on the floor with her back against the bar and Momo sitting next to her.

Rivy gasped and her eyes widened at seeing the contents of the safe, and she reached in and pulled them out. They were all family photos, along with thirty thousand lien. Rivy slowly looked through them all and her eyes teared up even more than from seeing the first picture. They were all pictures of different moments of everyone's lives. There were old pictures of her grandfather and his mate, photos of each newborn baby from Fay to Thorne, all the way down to Kairos. One was of Tiamat on the day she became captain of the guard, the youngest in Scalewood's history at twenty years old. Another was of the day Tiamat forged her sword in Riah's workshop, a day that made their grandfather extremely proud. Another one was the day after Fay and Thorne became mates. The last that Rivy saw before she had to put them back in the safe was of her first day as a barmaid. She had a huge, toothy smile and her eyes were closed because of it.

"This was what she wanted me to find…" Rivy murmured and took the picture from Ulysses, putting it in the safe and closing it back up, putting the key in her pocket, "It's survived all these years here…" She hugged the safe close to her chest, and for just that moment, Ulysses could see past all the scars, all the hard muscles, all the years of pain and frustration, and all the battles they've shared and he could see her for who she should have been. Just an innocent girl that wanted to do nothing more than help her village.

"Do you want to go now since you found that?" Ulysses asked softly and laid his hand on her shoulder, and then he caught sight of something in the wall where the safe was pulled from, "Hmm?"

He peered inside the wall and blinked, and then he reached inside and pulled out two bottles of a blue liquid. "What's this?" He set one bottle down and turned the other around to inspect the label, "Blue Frost Bourbon?"

"O-oh gods, two bottles survived…" Rivy began to smile a bit, "My father… He was always trying to make a great bourbon and he finally felt like he did with that. Everyone loved it, but I could never have a drink because I was too young. I wonder…" she leaned forward and reached into the wall and felt around for a few moments before she felt a piece of paper, and she grabbed it and pulled it out, and she unfolded it, "He left the recipe for it… I never expected a-any of this wh-when we came here today…"

She opened the safe and put the recipe inside, and she closed it back up before returning to holding the safe to her chest. "I think… we can go now," Rivy said and stood up off the ground. Ulysses noticed that she had a small smile on her face and her tears weren't of sadness anymore. They were happy tears, "I think this is all she wanted me to find."

Ulysses stood up as well, holding the two bottles of bourbon in his hands and he smiled at the sight of his mate's expression. "You look a lot different now I think."

Rivy looked at him in confusion. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You just look peaceful now. It's beautiful."

Rivy smiled a bit more and she stepped forward to kiss him on the lips. "I think I finally feel at peace now too. You know…" She pressed her head against his shoulder, "After we rebuild, then… I think I want to try to have a child of my own with you."

Ulysses started to smile even more and pressed his head down against her's. "I would love nothing more than that, love." 

The two stood like that for several moments before they shared another kiss, and then they left the in along with Momo and they met back up with Saint and Zarya. "I'm assuming you found it?" Saint asked hopefully.

Rivy nodded in response. "I did. And I think I found peace along with it."

Zarya smiled at hearing that and her scales and hair began to change to a bright white color to display her absolute joy for Rivy. "I'm so happy for you, Rivy. If there was anyone in the world who deserved peace, it would be you without a doubt."

"That's amazing to hear," Saint said and smiled as well, "What did you find?"

"A safe full of family photos and thirty thousand lien to help us rebuild Scalewood," Ulysses answered for his mate and held up the two bottles of the cool blue liquid, "and two bottles of Blue Frost Bourbon with at least twenty years of age to it, along with the recipe for it."

Saint's smile turned to a grin. "When do we get to try the bourbon?"

"And when do we get to see the pictures?" Zarya asked and began to grin as well.

Rivy laughed at that and smiled back at them. "Let's get back to the truck and we'll do just that."

Rivy led them all back through the village and this time, she walked with a new purpose in her steps. Everyone was glad to follow behind her, and Momo was especially happy because she sensed how happy her mama felt and her tail wagged behind her with each step. They soon made their way back to the truck and Zarya went to the back and opened the door, then pulled out a small table from the truck and four shot glasses from a small box and set them on the table. The table was built to be pulled straight out from the truck with another table beside of it that can be pulled out with a burner in it to cook food easily. But for now, the table was all they needed.

"How excited are you to finally be able to try this stuff, Rivy?" Ulysses asked his mate with a grin as he opened one of the bottles up, and they were all immediate hit with the scent of cool mint.

Rivy smiled and breathed deeply though her nose. "I'm very excited. I've always wondered what it tastes like and now I finally have the chance."

Ulysses filled each glass with the light blue bourbon and closed the bottle, and then everyone took a glass in their hands. "I think this calls for some sort of toast, doesn't it?" Saint asked everyone.

Zarya nodded. "I agree. This is a very special occasion."

"I think that's more than fitting," Ulysses agreed as well and nodded, "Would you like to start, Saint?"

Saint nodded back at him and raised his glass. "To the reclamation and rebuilding of Scalewood."

Zarya raised her glass. "To everyone who was lost, and to everyone who is still with us."

Ulysses raised his glass and smiled at his mate. "To Rivy."

Rivy smiled at that and slowly raised her glass into the air, and she looked around at these three people closest to her, and she remembered her grandfather, her parents, her sister, and her baby brother. She remembered the hell she endured to get to this point, all to avenge what had happened to her village that she was now planning to rebuild with the help of Ulysses, Saint, and Zarya, and she was sure that the friends they had made throughout the years would aid them in that. 

"To family." Rivy said finally, and each person downed their shots as Momo howled into the air.

Everyone could feel their mouths tingle with the taste of the mint along with the alcohol in the bourbon, and the coolness of it made it go down extremely easily when they all swallowed it. After that, they all got the faint aftertaste of blueberry, and it was all tasted absolutely wonderful to them. The transition from the taste of mint to blueberry was perfect. Everyone there could definitely tell why the bourbon was so popular among everyone in Scalewood.

"That… is amazing," Saint said and let out a deep breath, still feeling the coolness of the mint in his mouth, "I haven't tasted anything like this in my life."

"Neither have I," Zarya said and licked her lips, humming in delight, "I think that drink was perfect to mark a new chapter in our lives."

Ulysses nodded and refilled everyone's glasses, and everyone eagerly drank it down once more. "Gods, it's so good."

"Oh Light, the second drink tastes even better~" Saint said with a big grin, "I probably shouldn't drink anymore considering I'm driving."

Ulysses chuckled at that and put the lid back on the bottle. "I agree. I think these should only be broken out for special occasions. What did you think of it, love?"

He looked over to Rivy and what he saw brought a smile filled with joy to his face. She was smiling like she was sixteen again, and tears of happiness fell down her cheeks once more. "It's absolutely amazing…" She looked up to the heavens, where she was sure all her family were watching her. She could just imagine the smile on her father's face right now after she finally got to try his bourbon, "I-it's perfect, dad. I'll do my best to make more one day."

Ulysses put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. "They would all be happy for you, Rivy."

"When are we going to start rebuilding?" Zarya asked Rivy, her scales still white.

"I think… we should start as soon as possible," Rivy answered her, "Let's go back to Vale now. We have a lot of people to call."


End file.
